How lethal is the power of media can be gauged from the statements of two personalities who have nothing in common. Farouk Al-Shara, Syrian foreign minister said in the wake of Ghazi Kanaan’s (Syrian interior minister) suicide that the media killed him. A few days ago Asharq Al-Awsat published a letter reportedly sent by Al-Qaeda’s second in command Ayman Al-Zawahiri to Al-Zarqawi in which it was stated that half of the battle is media. According to a report in the US daily Christian Science Monitor, the Al-Qaeda is looking for editors for its various sites. The newspaper added that the Americans should stop thinking that the Al-Qaeda people are just a throwback to the Middle Ages.
Media in all its varieties occupy a vital position in our society. People imbibe everything that the media pour out. A healthy society is well fortified against the negative influences of the media. On the other hand the Arab society is vulnerable to all the undesirable aspects of the media.
It is argued that the immature Arab public should be protected against the media assault by allowing them to see and learn only what they ought to know. As a reaction to this policy Arab society permits itself to be influenced by every negative influence you can think of. Some argue that people’s thoughts should not be blocked and controlled as horses are with blinkers. The people, they say, require lamps to illuminate their visions. This is the only way to minimize the unhealthy influence of the media and thus counter Zawahiri’s strategy to win half the battle through the media.
Several studies were held to discuss the problems of the Arab media. It is not correct to say that there is no way to stop the media making negative influences on the people. They have a ready-made prescription: Freedom. The trouble with the Arab media is an absence of professional ethics that is attributed partly to the comparatively late birth of the Arab media, particularly the television.
Compared to the print media the mushrooming Arab television stations betray poor professionalism and lack of discretion in handling topics. Their treatment of topics is mostly superficial and lacks in objectivity.
The Arab media are, apparently, a substitute for the missing political democracy. Viewers imagine that what they see on the screen or read in the newspapers is a collective exercise mostly prohibited in the ordinary political life. Opinions and the dissenting views, which have no real entity in the practical world, are discussed and explained with the knowledge that they are absolute truths.
The vigorous competition in the Arab media, particularly among satellite stations requiring huge investments, makes them run after sensationalism stimulating all human instincts and stirring up sectarian and extremist sentiments to attract and boost viewership. No matter how vast their potential and technical know-how the Arab media would not fulfill the role of converting the killing bullets to bottles of medicine or transforming the blinkers into lamps. How could the public be convinced of the truth if their minds are filled with fallacies?
The Arab public is vulnerable to prejudices and sensationalism. Their education did not make them capable of engaging in political discussions. The mere ownership and administration of the monopolized channels of media do not help. The role of the Arab media should be to enlighten and change. Instead we see the distortions, prevarications and promotion of political and social myths.
An attentive observer can easily detect a number of negative features in the Arab media. Surprisingly there are two layers for the Arab media. First is the print and electronic media and the second is the rumors that people trust more than anything else. Mostly the official media are not trusted by the public. People generally seek the hidden meaning of the words and sentences.
The media captains are to be blamed for this state of affairs. The general public is not blameless. The likes and dislikes of readers or viewers influence and guide the media in their selection of news items and programs.
No matter how high the quality of a program, the general public would not like to take away its eyes from a pretty face in a soap opera. Neither would they stop listening to fiery speeches and being enchanted by myths. A better awareness will not develop by just demanding it; you have to work for it. The policy makers in the media face a hard choice — should they risk viewers and a fall in their profits by refusing to broadcast the type of programs to which the common people have become addicts?
